Senior cornerback earns first-team recognition, junior center and punter selected to second team;
Six Bulls earn preseason honors from Athlon overall
TAMPA, JUNE 9, 2020 – Heading into its first season under first-year head coach Jeff Scott, and with just one spring practice in the books under Scott, USF football saw six Bulls selected to Athlon Sports’ preseason American Athletic All-Conference team.
Tampa native KJ Sails, who organized a “Unity Walk” on Saturday that drew nearly 400 participants, earned first-team recognition heading into his senior campaign and second at USF after transferring from North Carolina. The cornerback earned second-team all-conference honors last season as he led the Bulls with five takeaways and three interceptions while finishing 15th in the conference with nine passes defended along with tallying 42 tackles and returning 12 punts for 117 yards.
Brad Cecil (Jacksonville), who has started 19 straight games at center, earned second-team recognition as he enters his junior campaign, as did senior punter Trent Schneider (Sydney, Australia). Schneider, who earned the first-ever Academic All-America honor in program history last year, set program records with a 46.0-yard punting average last season and a 52.8-yard game average vs. BYU, and he’s expected to be a strong Ray Guy Award candidate again.
Junior linebacker Dwayne Boyles (Miami) earned third-team recognition after leading the Bulls with 75 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss last year. Meanwhile, sophomore running back Johnny Ford (Miami) and junior left tackle Donovan Jennings (Tampa) were named to the fourth team. Ford, who has changed his number to 1 for 2020 and moved back to running back, started three games as a wide receiver last season before redshirting. He had an explosive freshman campaign, running for 787 yards and eight touchdowns and making three catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. Jennings has made 12 career starts at left tackle, including eight last year.
The Bulls are slated to open the 2020 campaign at preseason top 15 ranked Texas on Sept. 5. If preseason rankings hold, it will mark the highest ranked opening opponent in program history. The Bulls opened the 2019 campaign by falling to No. 19/17 Wisconsin in Tampa and won, 23-20, at No. 16/18 Notre Dame to open the 2011 season in the two others times USF has started a season versus a ranked foe.
About USF Football
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 23rd season (20th at the FBS level) in 2019. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 14 All-America selections and 29 first-team all-conference selections and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program record six straight appearances from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
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